Faculty Senate Minutes 2014-02-03

University of Wisconsin--Madison

shared governance document

February 3, 2014

Audio Recording

Chancellor Rebecca Blank called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. with 164 voting members present (75 needed for quorum).

1. Memorial Resolutions were presented for:
Professor Emeritus Edward Balish. faculty document 2459
Professor Emerita Marguerite Christensen. faculty document 2460
Professor Emeritus Richard F. Fenske. faculty document 2461
Professor Emeritus Theodore S. Hamerow. faculty document 2462
Professor Emeritus Minoru Kiyota. faculty document 2463
Professor Emeritus Paul O. Madsen. faculty document 2464
Professor Emeritus Gerald Marwell. faculty document 2465
Professor Emeritus Avadh Kishore Narain. faculty document 2466
Professor Emerita H. Jean Rowley. faculty document 2467

2. Announcements/Informational Items
a. Chancellor Blank announced the appointment of William (Bill) Heiss as Interim Secretary of the Faculty. A permanent Secretary of the Faculty will be appointed July 1, 2014.
b. Michael Bernard-Donals, University Committee Chair made the following announcements:
i. The Ad Hoc Committee on Civility and the Academic Workplace continues
ii. An Ad Hoc Committee on International Agreements will be formed to create recommendations about UW-Madison agreements with international institutions and honoring academic freedom.
iii. The following timeline for receiving the recommendations from the Working Group on Leadership Changes with the Vice Chancellor for Research/Dean of the Graduate School positions is as follows:
1. Initial draft recommendations will be presented at March 3, 2014 Senate meeting.
2. Public town hall meetings for open discussion of the recommendations will be held March 4 & 5.
3. With the input received, final recommendations for approval will be presented at the April 7, 2014 Senate meeting.
c. A Working Group is being formed to study university budget models. A White Paper on the need for budget model change has been disseminated to governance groups and deans. In turn, Deans will be working with department chairs for as needed.

3. Question Period
There were no questions

AUTOMATIC CONSENT BUSINESS

4. The Minutes of the 2 December 2013 Senate meeting were approved as distributed.

REPORTS

5. Provost Paul M. DeLuca, Jr. submitted for informational purposes the Campus Planning Commitee Annual Report for 2012-2013. faculty document 2468.
There were no questions or comments.

6. Professor David Hildner submitted for informational purposes the Lectures Committee Annual Report for 2012-2013. faculty document 2469
There were no questions or comments.

7. Associate Dean and Professor Steven Cramer submitted for informational purposes the Ad Hoc Tuition Policy Faculty Committee Report. faculty document 2470.
There were no questions or comments.

NEW BUSINESS
8. Professor Donald Downs offered and moved to adopt a resolution opposing limitations on academic freedom as exemplified by recent American Studies Association actions. The motion was seconded. Discussion followed by those in favor and opposed to adopting the resolution. faculty document 2471

A motion was made and seconded to table the resolution. The motion to table
passed. Senators were reminded that the vote was not on the resolution itself.

A second motion was made and seconded that University Committee appoint a
Committee to look into the issue of academic boycotts/academic freedom and decide whether to bring the issue to back to the senate.

Motion carried.

9. On behalf of the University Committee Michael Bernard-Donals moved to accept the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuel Use and Climate Change and to Accept its recommendations. faculty documents 2472
Motion passed.

ANNOUNCEMENT

10. Staff from the University Health Service gave a brief presentation about the “AT RISK” tool for faculty relative to suicide prevention. It’s an online interactive tool and incudes simulations such as conversations about what to say to students who are perceived to be at-risk for suicide.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted by,
William A. Heiss
Interim Secretary of the Faculty